


Drafts

by sonegr



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Pacific Rim AU, Pirate AU, Shameless AU, Soulmates AU, Wilden Kerle AU, skam au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 06:10:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16191671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonegr/pseuds/sonegr
Summary: Just works I started but never finished uwuHonestly if anyone wants to finish these hmu





	1. Johnjae - Pacific Rim AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh, this was supposed to be a Johnjae Pacific Rim AU but I sadly never finished it :(
> 
> I think it was based of the fact that Johnny and Jaehyun are in sync a lot of time and especially that one video where they said the same thing at the same time...i don't remember lol

The day Jaehyun arrived at the NCT facility marked a turning point in his life, or a starting point of something new, a different world that was dark and had no space for failures. The doors he passed through were heavy, a dark metal and each was protected with a security system that requested a password or occasionally a card pulled through the slot. Everything was dim, no window in sight, no daylight passing through just endless hallways of neon lights which dragged down the the atmosphere, the mood and encouraged Jaehyun’s emotions of distress even more.  
The man in front of him had introduced himself as Mr. Lee when Jaehyun was dragged out of the black car that brought him to the military base, across the courtyard where big machinery had their home. “The head of the military forces and contact person for the trainees, like you.”, he had said, joyful, before escorting him to the dorm rooms, where Jaehyun would stay for the next years of his thus far miserable life.

Becoming a pilot trainee was a dream for many people his age or even younger but for him, he had no choice.  
Soldiers that specialises in finding suitable candidates toured around in east asia for over 5 years now just to find and recruit fitting, young people that would be trained in the military to leave their life and lose their life for the sake of mankind. They created a new Seoul based military facility, a new unit of pilots responsible for east asia, the coasts, the people and everyone’s lives. Jaehyun had no idea what made him fit the position of a pilot, he was athletic but failed during the tests in the gym, customized solely for the procedure he was put through, on purpose but it was as if the man in the dark uniform watching him from across the room could see right through him with his rigid gaze and stiff outer appearance. He tried to flee what he did not want to become but he was caught.

Pilots were treated as heros, as living legends, teens had posters of them hung up in their room, admiring, children had action figure of Jäger gripped in their small innocent hands, adults watched the people they owed their ongoing existence to on TV, intently. It was a dream, a dream that meant giving up everything you had, your family and everything you worked for to die for human beings that were mere strangers to you. Jaehyun was smart enough to see through the blanket of lies the heroes on screen wrapped around themselves, seeing the death in their eyes, what they had lost on their mind.

Jaehyun never wanted to become a pilot, he didn’t throw his childhood away to train for the tests, he wanted a normal life, to become a lawyer or a doctor and make his parents proud but now he would never see them again and the next time they would set their eyes on him it would be through a screen where the news of him being one of them, a hero, as they called it.

He was walking alongside Mr. Lee, endless hallways, never ending, after every door a new start leading to another start disguised as an exit until they reached a big common room, no soul in sight. The lightning was dark and artificial like everything else in this building, the interior black or grey, couches, a TV, a space separated from the rest by walls made of glass held a training room, a small gym. There was a kitchen too, hidden, with a breakfast bar and some stools.  
“This is the boy’s common room.”, Mr. Lee said and motioned around as if he was presenting Jaehyun something important. The man pointed at a staircase leading up to more doors, “There are the rooms. Yours is the on the far right. Your roomates should be back from the training soon.”, he swung his arm around almost hitting the other in the head, “The bathrooms are over there.” and when Jaehyun looked into the direction the man was pointing in all he saw was a corridor leading past the kitchen into darkness and nothing else.


	2. Markhyuck - Pirate AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a Pirate AU...I THINK it was Markhyuck but I'm not so sure anymore honestly
> 
> It was supposed to go somewhere along the lines of Taeyong being obsessed with finding Mazu, the sea goodess and Mark wanting to find Taeyong for some reason so they both hunt down Mazu, Taeyong with some mysterious lead he got from somewhere and Mark with his necklace that the oracle gave him but it turns out Mazu is actually Donghyuck who has no idea about it lol. IDK WHAT I WAS THINKING

The sea shells in his hand, bound by cord and hung from a beam, bumped together when he dropped them, releasing small sounds. The air was thick and musty, dust piling up on every surface, the only source of natural sunlight was a small window almost completely covered by a dark, wooden bookshelf filled to the brim with leather bound books.

“You must be Mark.” The addressed turned in the direction of the voice, surprised by the sudden appearance of young woman entering the room, dressed in heavy cloths, hair bound up and held in place by kerchief. “I was expecting you.”, she said, voice calm, “What brings you here?”

“Lee Taeyong”, Mark answered straight forward as the woman was putting jars that held different liquids, in a shelf. She seemed unbothered, not answering. “I’ve been told that you could help me find him.”

“Why?”, she said, finally giving the younger boy her attention, jars forgotten, stepping forward into his personal space, “Why do you need to find him?”

“Not important.”, Mark spat back, looking down on her, the closeness making him uncomfortable. The woman turned around again, sorting books that were scattered on the dark table in the middle of the room, moving them to the side to create space. She disappeared for a second, bringing back a stool and motioned for Mark to sit on it, opposite of her, a glass of rum placed in front of him had seemingly appeared out of thin air.

“He told me about you, Mark.”, she said, leaning forward.

“He was here?”, the boy asked hopefully.

The woman slapped her hand on the table, “No, he was not. Listen to me.” She took a deep breath, the air still stuffy, “I was on his ship with his crew for the past months. I came back six days ago. He talked about you. You are loyal, he had said, a pirate too good for the businesses he is involved in.”

Mark became annoyed with the woman’s antics. He came all the way to Malaysia from Hong Kong’s port because of the rumors, the rumors that she could find everyone, no matter who, that she had connections far beyond the China Sea. He needed to find Taeyong and not talk about his own personality. “Can’t you just tell me where he is?”, he asked, visibly on edge.

The woman leaned back in her stool, brushing her thick, wavy hair off her shoulder. “I cannot.”

Mark sighed, rolling his eyes. Coming all the way down to the Malaysian port was a waste of time, he knew that. He should have never listened to the rumors about an Oracle, a woman with a 7th sense that could tell you things no one else knew of but his crew was convinced the locals were speaking the truth so he lost the vote and they decided to give it a try.

Mark was about to stand up and leave in order to begin his search outside of this port when she spoke up again, “I do not know where he is, but I know how to bring him to you.”

Mark scoffed. “He would never come to me on his own accord.”

“He wouldn’t?”, the woman said, standing up and rummaging through a dusty drawer, taking something out but keeping it enclosed in her fist. Mark was waiting intently for her to speak again. “What is the most precious to our beloved Lee Taeyong?”

Mark paused for a moment, thinking about what could be so dear to his former captain, his brother by heart not by blood, that he would reunite with him again. Apart from the company of men of course. His eyes widened. “Mazu”, he said, and immediately after, “But that is impossible.”

The woman slid the object in her right hand across the table and in front of the young captain, revealing a piece of jewelry underneath. The aura surrounding the necklace was magical, unreal. The pendant glowing in a turquoise light, fitted with silver decoration enclosing its round form, almost looking like the sea on an exceptionally calm day where one was able to see all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Mark was enchanted, unable to talk, struck by the beauty of the pendant.

“I know it seems impossible, but it is not. Mazu is real and alive. Take this necklace, wear it and it will guide you to them.”, the woman said.

Mark picked up the pendant, looking at it from a smaller distance. He could feel something running through him at the touch, something bleeding in every corner of his very being and filling him to the brim with a prickly feeling. “I can’t believe it.”, he said, stunned, “I was never a believer but this-”, he held up the pendant for the woman to see, “-it’s almost like a proof of her existence.”

The woman nodded, a small smirk on her face. “Wear it and it will guide you to them.”

-

It was warm at the port and exceptionally so when sitting close to the water. The sun standing high and leaving a tickling sensation dancing across one’s skin, the residents walking around, working, selling their harvested goods at the market.

Mark walked up to the small crew he formed after leaving Taeyong’s ship, all five of them sitting on the benches provided for visitors of the tavern, sweating and waiting for their captain to call them on the boat again so they could leave the heat behind and sniff the fresh air of the sea again instead of rotten fish and beer that was spilled on the ground the night before.

Donghyuck jumped up as he caught sight of his captain, already running up to him. “Thank God you are back! Jaemin was about to pick up a fight with the next best person out of boredom.”

His crew was random to say the least. None of them were involved in piracy before apart from Mark himself as he practically grew up on a ship together with Taeyong. He had picked out his members carefully, four of them being there voluntary, one person more or less kidnapped and forced but he was starting to enjoy his new life as pirate as well.

The first one was Jaemin, smart and fast Jaemin who loved flirting and fighting the most and spent all his time in taverns whenever they docked at ports. Mark met him in Korea, right after leaving Taeyong, pick-pocketing in the streets and stealing food from unobservant merchants. The older cornered him in an unoccupied alley, after having followed and observed him throughout the whole whole day, Jaemin fighting him at first, a natural instinct, but he gave up after realising Mark’s intentions. He joined immediately having nothing to lose. Jaemin was responsible for navigation on the ship and unofficially for drinking all the rum and never refilling the barrels.

Jaemin introduced Mark to the young Jisung who joined to flee his horrible home, his parents that kept pressuring him and his violent uncle.


	3. Johnjae - Skamish AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A kinda Skam/Druck AU
> 
> So, the following are the original notes I had saved in the document P.S. GIVE MATTEO HIS SEASON

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, sitting on my unfinished Markhyuck/Johnjae fics and my Johnjae AU on Twitter: let’s start another fic
> 
> GERMANS DON’T INTERACT
> 
> This time inspired by Skam more specifically Skam Germany aka Druck. The setting will be Germany but no specific places will be named and the thematic is youth culture which is just smoking weed honestly. Jk. I don’t know what this is but I’m the god of this mess that I just created and no one can stop me. It’s gay, I made a bomb playlist for this (mostly German stuff), there will be racial issues as well as some homophobia but it’s all pretty light so nothing heavy. I want to stay pretty close to German youth culture and stuff so some expressions might be written in German but the translation will be next to it and the meaning of the phrases if necessary somewhere at the bottom.   
> Ok that’s it! Watch Druck w/ eng sub on Dailymotion or Vimeo and give the official Youtube account some views pls I want season 3, ok, Matteo deserves it.
> 
> Grade 11:  
> Jaehyun - 17  
> Sicheng - 17  
> Mark - 16  
> Mira - 16
> 
> Grade 12:  
> Johnny - 19  
> Dan - 18  
> Emma - 18
> 
> Other characters are side characters so I didn’t write them down here.

-

The metallic click of his way to colorful locker closing resounded in his head, most of the upper class men already gone and most likely enjoying the unusual warm weather in late August. Jaehyun had stayed behind in the confined rooms to help one of the younger students study for an upcoming test, his duty after he volunteered for the ‘Youth Helps Youth’ project last year, a terrible mistake. He had to help the students younger than him after school ended in subjects he himself had no clue about but at least the weekly meetings helped him brush up on basic knowledge of those subjects.

He stepped out the stuffy building, the sun blinding him and staring down on his covered body, mocking him and the fact that he had to stay in the overly air-conditioned, almost as cold as the North Pole school. Mark was sitting on the swingset opposite the entrance, a lit cigarette in his right hand and using one leg to swing a little bit, the other one stuffed under his thigh. 

“Put that shit away.”, Jaehyun said as he was walking over to his best friend, Mark immediately throwing the half-smoked butt down in the sand.

“Fucking finally. You were taking ages.”, Mark said, rolling his eyes and standing up from the swing, brushing sand and ash from his jeans.

“The teachers are still around, idiot. You would have gotten into trouble if one of them caught you smoking on school property.”, Jaehyun said as both were walking to the bike stands. The weather was nice, so nice that they had made plans outside their bedroom in front of the TV. Mark had bought some weed from one of the many dealers he knew and waited all through Jaehyun’s studying session so they could go to the park afterwards, lazing away in the sun among other people their age that had the exact same plan. No examen were waiting for them, no work or other duties as the school year had just begun.

They were riding their bikes along the streets talking about the holidays, about school, about the new students in their grade and their teachers. It was hot, the sport of riding the bike causing both to sweat slightly but the wind made up for it again, cooling down their bodies. A thick smell of exhaust was travelling through the air, clinging, changing into a rather pleasant one of someone grilling as they got closer to their destination.

Mark and Jaehyun settled down in the grass close to a tree but not in the shadow, close to some other teenagers but not too close as to get to know them. Mark rummaged through his fanny pack, which Sicheng had claimed the other day as hideous and embarrassing, picking out a lighter and two rolled blunts, handing one over to Jaehyun and lighting both.

“Emma is having a party today.”, Mark said, looking around and watching the other people, a soccer team training, a big group of students, some people having a BBQ. 

“The one from 12th grade?”, Jaehyun asked after he took a drag of his blunt, almost coughing from how deep he accidently inhaled.

“Yeah, it’s something about some guy who returned from America. He’s Korean too.”, Mark said, “But no one from our grade is invited, not even Mira.”

“How do you always know shit like that, dude. I can barely keep up with school work much less with the 12th graders.”, Jaehyun said. Mark chuckled as answer and shrugged. Silence fell over them. Jaehyun took one last drag before throwing the blunt in the grass carelessly. He leaned back on his hands, closing his eyes and feeling the sun playing on his face, almost tickling along his pale skin.

They have been friends since 5th grade, always attached by the hip but Mark knew everyone in school, always one to socialise while Jaehyun barely knew the people in his classes, the only ones that really mattered to him were his two friends Mark and Sicheng, occasionally Mira when she wasn’t fed up with his contant ghosting on Whatsapp. In short, Jaehyun didn’t care about his reputation among his peers, too shy and introverted. He knew he had the reputation of being the most average person to ever grace his school, apart from being not white of course, which was like wearing a bright pink t-shirt constantly, people watching him, looking his his direction because of the obvious difference, assuming things about him even if they had no idea who he was. One girl that transferred to their school in grade 8 was convinced he didn’t know how to speak German because she had never heard him talk, called him Chinese to his face because she thought he wouldn’t understand. She was horrible, her nose always snotty, the best one in German class and taking on every opportunity to correct Sicheng’s pronunciation. Everyone thought of her as annoying, an unspoken truth. She herself probably thought she was smart or something but she just was a poor attempt at being important.

Mark was known as being a stoner by everyone, which was far from the truth. He smoked weed, but less than some other people in their grade, and was an exceptionally good student, always at the top of his class, a teacher’s pet. His look, the bucket hats, the white socks and the horrible fanny pack gave him the reputation just like the way he spoke calmly, his voice barely rising above a certain level and the fact that he smoked weed at every party he went to.

Sicheng was quiet, but not in a shy way, more like reversed and not interested in drama or gossiping or anything like that. He liked to avoid people that were too loud, he muted every single group chat he was in but somehow people still found him charming, inviting him to come along whenever they went downtown even though he was far from interested most times.

Mark was coughing before he said: “Someone is coming over.” Jaehyun wasn’t opening his eyes until something casted a shadow over him, blocking out the sun. When he opened his eyes a guy was looking down at him, brown floppy hair similar to his eyes. He was tall and not as lanky as most guys, a bit on the border side but not built. He was wearing one of those ugly polo shirts all the popular guys liked to wear, unlit cigarette in his hand which he took out to speak, “Do you guys have lighter?” 

His voice was warm, like everything about him, radiating a calm atmosphere. He was still looking down at Jaehyun who felt uncomfortable hot and not answering, Mark jumping in with a quick “Sure” and handing the tall guy his lighter he had stolen from some girl at a party last weekend. The guy ripped his gaze from Jaehyun to accept the lighter and sat down next to Jaehyun, who was groaning inwardly, without being asked to.

The guy lit his cigarette, handing the lighter back to Mark and taking a drag before asking, “Are you coming tonight?”. Mark looked puzzled and Jaehyun was somewhere else, astral projecting.”What do you mean?”, the youngest asked finally.

“The party at Emma’s”, he said, blowing out a cloud of smoke, Jaehyun watching his lips all the while, full and kissable but he would never admit that out loud, “I’ve seen you guys around school. So, you coming?”

Some random stranger sat down next to them with his face in a constant frown and asked them to join Emma’s party, the one no one from their grade was invited to, for absolutely no reason.

“Sure”, Mark said, acting chill about it while Jaehyun was still living on another planet, far away.

“Cool. I’m Johnny by the way.”, he said, stroking his brown hair out of his face. “And you guys?”, he said, seemingly ignoring Mark, focused on Jaehyun.


	4. Markhyuck - Wilde Kerle AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was the result of watching my favourite children movie series again lol
> 
> The following are the original notes form the document

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, first of all, this is loosely inspired by a german kids movie/book series that I really loved as a kid. Kill me, please. Anyways, NCT Dream is kind of like a soccer gang in this? I can’t really explain the concept of ‘Die Wilden Kerle’ honestly it’s a bit weird but Germans, you know what I’m talking about. Literally everyone loved these movies back in the day, lol. (I think there is an Eng dub too???)  
> So for warnings; this will be shorter than my other works and probs more on the crack kinda side. Idk. It’s literally just writing practice for me before I continue my longer Johnjae project. There will be a lot of swearing, teenagers growing up, h- h- heterosexuality...the usual. Uh, have fun or smthn. And, before I forget it, the town they live in is referenced to as ‘hometown’ throughout the whole thing as I don’t really want to give all of this a specific place. Also, I don’t know shit about soccer so this is just bullshiting around actually describing a game.

-

 

Summer holidays was Mark’s favourite time of the year. It was warm in his hometown, but far from being too hot, too unbearable, occasional rain showers garcing the warm and stuffy air. The streets were filled with people his age or younger, playing and having the time of their lives far away from daily routines and everyday life, jumping rope, drawing on the streets with crayons but most importantly playing soccer, among the white suburban houses, on the untravelled asphalt.

Their parents hated summer holidays. It was loud outside, their children were gone for most of the day, reappearing only for dinner with scratched knees or ripped clothes. It smelled of barbecue everyday around 5pm as a different neighbour took advantage of the dry climate to cook outside and crack open a cold one with the boys. They had to socialise, be friendly, talk over the fence with the person next door while gardening, dirt clinging under their fingernails, to appear interested in the lives of the people surrounding their home area, which they couldn’t care less about.

Mark was the oldest one in his friend group, living together with his older brother and basically no parents as his father was travelling for work during most part of the summer and his mother long gone, somewhere far away. Sharing a space with Johnny was awful, the older in midst of his studies and working all day, only leaving his room to eat food, go to work or get drunk with his friends, the spacious house a mess for five days a week, cleaned every Friday and Tuesday by the charwomen that Mark had known since his early childhood. 

Mark spent most of his time away from home anyways, playing soccer on the field that was basically just made of mud and proclaimed theirs years ago. They had everything they needed there anyways, at the ‘Alphafield’. Two goals that had been there since forever, bleachers, rotten and forfeited, made out of wood and holding ten people at most, a kiosk that had been run by an old alcoholic resident who had died two years ago, unexpectedly, and it had hit Mark so deep that he had almost given up playing soccer for good, the fence enclosing the whole pitch. There was The Caravan too. It had belonged to the alcoholic kiosk owner but Jaemin and Jeno made it their special mission to renovate it, paint it and make it their group’s personal headquarters. It looked decent now, no more chipping paint, no weird smells or moldy seating ensemble. A kitchen with working faucette, a queen sized space made for sleeping separated form the living space with seating arrangements by a sliding door that was decorated with polaroids showing their group, made it a comfortable space, so comfortable that they had spent nights there, sleeping on the seats or in sleeping space, talking about nothing and everything, or planning their next steps against other soccer gangs form the surrounding towns.

They had been a group since second grade, but their actual soccer gang formed in forth when they had started to be interested in the sport, watching the world cup secretly past bedtime and cheering for their favorite team.   
They were a gang, not a team, only 7 of them, still looking around for new members, but not to intently, wary of strangers invading their space. 

The first official members were Mark and Jeno, the only ones actually interested in playing soccer instead of just watching it at the age of 8. Johnny was part of them too as well has his friend Taeyong, but they left before the group became serious about the whole thing, too old, too grown up and too preoccupied.   
Mark was their captain, a position he was proud of but one that came with many responsibilities he was sometimes insecure about. He wasn’t very good at embolding their members, still awkward about being the one with the power over the rest if the team and he wasn’t the best player either. He was good, very good a dribbling, the best out of them at it, but he was insecure about a lot of things, accuracy, teamplay, bossing around the others.

Their best player, power wise, was probably Jeno. His kick was strong and accurate, always going wherever he wanted it to as if he had control over the ball with every cell of his body, he was made to play soccer. Donghyuck got hit once by one of Jeno’s balls and walked around with a black eye for days after school had begun again. The teacher was so worried about his situation at home that he and Jeno had to explain the whole story about how Jaemin had pressured him to play goalkeeper for one practice round just so he could get hit in the head at his first try to hold the ball.

Jaemin was the fastest out of them, always running up front, always the fastest to cross the field, the one who was in position on time so the ball could be passed to him. He liked to call himself ‘The Attacking Mid’ when he joined the team and outran Jeno on his first day. Personality wise, he was charming, almost sly, everyone wrapped around his finger after talking to him for a few seconds, flirting with everyone, touchy, and making comments that were way below the belt but somehow still amusing. He was famous in school, above the level of Jeno and Mark’s already outrageous popularity, the first one who had a girlfriend, the first one who had his first kiss, the one with the most friends.

If Jaemin was an unstoppable force then Renjun was an immovable object. They appeared very different on the outside, Renjun shy and quiet in comparison to Jaemin’s outgoing personality, preferably alone and not a friend of people touching him, especially if it was Jaemin touching him. Renjun was determined and could be a savage if he wanted to,his chokehold stronger than any of Jeno’s kicks, Chenle more often the victim of it than anyone else, the younger Chinese always teasing the older and skinny boy that was underestimated by their opponent at almost every game. He was light and had a small frame and looked so lost standing between the goal posts but once the game started it became clear that he stood exactly where he belonged.

Chenle was the second youngest, the second chinese member, always the second but self proclaimed first. He was good at every aspect, a good dribbler, fast, strong kicks and could be deployed as the goalkeeper if he needed to. He was good but at never the best at what he did, always the second best at everything but he was a one-in-all deal, the most rounded player, the one who could do it all.

The youngest of them was Jisung. He was graceful whenever he was on the field, dancing across the pitch, dancing around their opponents as if he owned it, stealing the show without breaking a sweat, light on his feet and out-dribbling everyone while looking like he has done exactly this his whole life. His character was likewise, standing tall and talking only when talked to, no hair out of place, seemingly untouchable.

Their worst and best player at the same time was Donghyuck, Mark’s best friend since fifth grade. He was not very good at soccer, not interested in any kind of sport that required physical activity, dragged into the game through Mark, but he was so unpredictable, such an erratic force that their opponents where always left confused whenever he stormed past them, his tactics unconventional. Jeno had tried to teach him multiple times, had tried to help him find his position but nothing was working so they just called him their ‘Secret Weapon’ and intimidated their enemies with his unpredictability.  
His personality was similar, and the source of all of Mark’s stress induced headaches the past 7 years, loud and wild, everywhere at the same time, taking up all space and wavering, unpredictable. He liked to hang around the other members, hated being alone however was a handful to deal with, especially if your name was Mark Lee and Donghyuck’s favorite person to annoy.

-

There was this girl, Haerim, that hung around The Alphafield since the first day of summer. She had dark, wild hair, was wearing jeans unintentionally ripped at the knees, a mix of colours and patterns. She watched as they practiced, she watched as Donghyuck fell face first in the mud and she laughed loud and carefree, as if she was waiting for one of them to call her out on it.

Jaemin said he knew her, she was in their school and didn’t have many friends, moved here only a few months ago, said she must feel lonely. Mark pitied her but he had no idea how to approach her.

He mentioned her one night, Jisung and Chenle in deep sleep already on the seating area in The Caravan they had pulled out to make a bigger space, wrapped in thin blankets that smelled oddly of smoke and something else he couldn’t place, that he wanted to talk to her, maybe she wanted to play with them, maybe she wanted to befriend them. It was the first time Jaemin had brought up something like that to Mark. “You like her?”, he had asked, mischievous as always, Renjun scoffing, Jeno and Donghyuck keeping quiet, the latter oddly so.

“What? No, of course not.”, Mark defended himself, ignoring the others’ insistent looks, “I was just wondering. She keeps coming here.”

“You are right.”, Jeno said after a short pause, “We should probably talk to her. We can’t just let her hang around here and fucking watch us.”   
They agreed that Jaemin would talk to her the next day as he the one out of them who actually knew how to talk to girls and after all six had stood around the field, acting as if they weren’t watching the two talking, he went back to them and said, “She wants to join us.”

-

Haerim joining their team was a blessing and a curse at the same time. 

Most of them had been against it originally, Donghyuck being very keen on his opinion that they wouldn’t need a girl in their team, that she would hinder them, but the rest of them agreed that she should at least be given a chance to show what she got. Under the blaring hot sun she run around the pitch, kicking in goal after goal that flew past a growingly frustrated Renjun and all doubt they had was gone, all of them excited for her to join their team, except for Donghyuck who walked off the field pissed and left them behind with their newest member.

“He will calm down.”, Mark said after he saw Haerim’s worried expression, “It has happened before.”

It had happened before. Donghyuck had run of the field without saying so much as a goodbye a total of two times.

The first one was after he had practiced with them the second time. He was so bad and kept falling, bandages piling up on his knees, one even on his cheek from a nasty cut he got on the bleachers after slipping in the wet dirt the day before. Donghyuck had overheard Jeno, Jaemin and Renjun talking with Mark, talking about how bad he was, and they were laughing, mindless children, Jaemin considering kicking him out again. He ran away, tears building up and when the others went back to playing he was gone, nowhere to be found, missing Mark telling the others to give him time, he would get better, he was sure of it.  
Donghyuck didn’t talk to them for a total of two weeks, dismissing all apologies until his best friend wrote a heartfelt letter to him. Most of them were 11 at that time, Mark 12. 

The second time was after an argument he wasn’t even involved in. It was last summer, the hottest summer so far, the ground wasn’t mud for once and everyone spurted a sunburn of some sort, Donghyuck himself tanner than ever, sitting in the door of The Caravan, drinking water to cool down.  
Jaemin and Renjun had been shouting at each other, criticizing each other’s tactics which eventually converted into screaming insults that were way below their niveau. It was disconcerting, Renjun barely raised his voice at anyone and Jaemin wasn’t one to argue, always one to make peace rather than war, but from the distance and the mindless curse words flying Donghyuck was sure there was something much deeper that made them scream at each other like that, something below the surface, buried.  
Donghyuck started doubting their team and himself, started to worry about their game against one of the strongest teams in their region that was to be held place next week and before he knew it he ran as far as his feet would take him.

When he came back they had calmed down, were acting normal but the tension was still present, the glances they shot into each other’s direction, the way they made sure not to stand next to one another for a whole week afterwards.  
Donghyuck asked Chenle what went down after he left and the younger described in detail excitedly about how they wouldn’t stop shouting until Mark and Jeno had dragged them off to calm down. Chenle was sure Renjun had been crying at some point, always the sensitive one, and had hit Jeno’s hands off when he had tried to comfort him. Donghyuck never found out what the actual reason for their argument was. Most of them were 15 on that day, Mark 16.

-

Haerim joining their team was a blessing and a curse at the same time.

She was good, one of the best players any of them had ever seen, she belonged on the field. She brought a lot to the table, she had so much to offer, they were infuriated with her, and her talents, except for one person.

Her presence made the tension in the team go up. They didn’t know how to act around her, awkward and mumbling where she was confident and strong. They didn’t know if they should invite her to sleepover in The Caravan with them so they just stopped having sleepovers altogether. They didn’t know if they should invite her out outside of practice so they stopped meeting up as a whole group. They were on their tiptoes around her, Haerim having a power over them she had no idea she possessed but she sensed the tension, the unsureness and took matter into her own hands. “We are having a sleepover.”, she said,not waiting for an answer, “I know you guys did that all the time and you really don’t have to stop just because I’m here now.”

That night they stood in front of The Caravan with blankets and snacks ready, Jisung brought one of his brother’s old portable DVD players and a bunch of movies, waiting for Mark, the only one who had keys, besides Jaemin (he had lost them somewhere in the bushes outside the gate to The Alphafield), and Haerim. To everyone’s surprise they arrived together on their bikes, Haerim’s old and worn out, Mark’s modern and squeaky clean, cans of no name beer in tow. Donghyuck visibly tensed up at the sight.

They pulled out the seats to make a bigger sleeping area like they always did, silently agreeing that Haerim would have the actual bed in the back to herself, two inflatable mattresses that could hold two people each on the floor in front of the kitchen to make up for the lost sleeping space. They squeezed on the seats, blankets thrown over them to shut out the evening cold that had spread around them, Haerim between Mark, who was leaning against the wall, and Jaemin, to Donghyuck’s annoyance. 

The DVD player had an extremely small screen but somehow they managed to follow the movie playing on it, some action film about dreams, while drinking the pisswarm beer and eating cheap rip-off nachos. It was very interesting and thrilling but Mark’s and Haerim’s closeness distracted him, made him glance in their direction from time to time. He caught Jaemin slyly putting his arm around her, he saw him leaning on her, her leaning on Mark, the three off them like domino’s that had fallen over on top of each other. Chenle was making off-hand comments about how it was a shame the movie had never gotten a sequel, Jisung was sleeping half on top of the slightly older. Jeno was the only one of them actually watching the movie as Renjun was about to fall off the seats but he didn’t look bothered by it at all in fact he seemed ready to leave.

They had always been physically close, all of them except for Renjun who pushed anyone away that came too close, so it was no wonder Jaemin and Mark tried to involve their newest addition into the ritual, both the ones closest to Haerim however that didn’t stop Donghyuck from being jealous of her. She could do what he could not. She could cuddle close to Mark without being pushed away. She could play soccer like no one else. She got all of Mark’s attention. Donghyuck hated her.  
He knew Haerim was actually a really kind person, her personality fitting well with all of them but his jealousy made him see red and nothing else. He picked out every little detail he didn’t like about her instead of trying to get closer. He hated her stupid wild hair. He hated her stupid laugh whenever Mark said something funny. He hated her obnoxious voice. All his envying was doing more harm than good, for himself and the team, he knew that but he couldn’t stop himself.

After the film was over Renjun practically ran out of The Caravan to get some fresh air and to get away from the stuffiness in the room, the closeness. Donghyuck followed him, grabbing a second beer on his way out and not looking back, blanket slung over his shoulders. 

“Ugh, I hate that.”, Renjun said as Donghyuck let himself fall next to him on the bleachers, “Chenle kept pushing his smelly feet into my thigh. I thought, I was going to die.”

“Those are his hooves, bitch.”, Donghyuck commented, offering the older a sip of his drink, Renjun shaking his head. “It tastes like piss anyways.”

Renjun leaned back and took a deep breath of night air, the stars above them clear. Crickets were making noise somewhere in the background, past the fence, as the whole area it surrounded was solely dirt, no grass in sight.

“You know I don’t hate you guys, right?”, Renjun asked and Donghyuck put his bottle down, nodding attentively, “What gives you the idea we would think that?”


	5. Markhyuck - Soulmates AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There weren't any notes this time but it was supposed to be a cutesy fluffy soulmates AU with a dash of angst I guess??? idk what I was thinking good night

His first memory regarding soulmates was wrapped in a thick cloud of fog in the depth of his mind nestled beside other childhood memories back in his hometown, back in Jeju, long before he moved to Seoul to become a trainee. His mother was sitting beside his old bed, the sheets depicting some cartoon he could not bother to recall, trying to get him to sleep, which was hard, it always has been, it still is as Donghyuck seems to be charged with energy until the late evening hours. She was talking in a soft voice and telling him about a story, a love story, a girl with a symbol on her wrist, an anchor, which she carried proudly and openly, everyone envying her and the fate this very anchor predicted. She was meant to be with someone. A higher power no living soul could understand chose her to be fated with another person who carried the same symbol upon their body.

His mother finished the story with the meeting of the two fated and Donghyuck doubted her, told her something like this has to be made up but his mother was believing every word she had told him, she was so sure of it being the truth and Donghyuck had started to believe too.

When he got older he lost all interest in soulmates. He has heard of people sparing themselves, avoiding dating just so they could be with their destined partner even though they held no mark, no symbol, no sign upon their body. In his eyes they were obsessed with something that could never be, with something that was too good to be true, with a fairytale. They held themselves back for a thing that would never happen. He laughed at everyone that believed in soulmates, everyone who thought they were fated to be with someone, as none of them had a mark upon their skin.

-

“It is rare.”, Taeyong had said. They were in the waiting room at one of the many music shows they visited, some changing clothes, some getting their makeup done and others on their phone and lounging around, waiting for their turn to perform. In the background Yuta was complaining about his hairstyle and Taeil was motioning for him to be more quiet so the stylists wouldn’t hear them but Donghyuck was sure they caught it anyways.

Taeyong was talking about the rumor. Apparently a senior in their company had found their soulmate, a stranger they had met one day on the streets. It was a hot topic among other SM artists and their company feared that information would leak but that couldn’t stop anyone from exchanging the news, if one could call them that. Donghyuck doubted that it was more than just a rumor, a new topic everyone could talk about to keep themselves entertained in this strict industry.

Taeyong was a fan of the idea of soulmates. He liked to think that there was someone out there who he was meant to be with, someone with whom he shared a deeper bond and he was very vocal about it. He liked to read articles and studies about it, he forced the members to endure hours of documentaries and romantic comedies on the topic whenever it was his turn to choose a movie for the night. Donghyuck hated it. Taeyong was obsessed with the idea and some of the members were sure it was to an unhealthy point as Taeyong had avoided dating for as long as they could remember.

But Taeyong was not the only member who believed. Taeil and Mark had voiced out their opinion before. They thought of it as real, Taeil claiming his aunt and uncles were soulmates, a small A gracing both of their skins, Taeil had seen it when they gushed about how they met and flaunted the symbol for the whole family to see. Mark mentioned before that it would be nice if he was chosen to get a soulmate but he wasn’t nearly as annoying about it as Taeyong. In fact most members believed in the fate of two souls that were meant to be but they stayed mostly quiet about it.

“I heard somewhere that the chance is one in a million that you get a mark.”, Doyoung said, not nearly as invested in the topic as Taeyong but he didn’t want the other to get completely ignored as no one else paid attention to his rant.

“The chances are so low.”, Taeyong whined and one could tell that he wanted to go on, probably about an article on the statistics in Korea or something but he was cut off as they were called on stage.

-

The first time Donghyuck noticed that something was off he was with Mark. It was the 6th of July, his 17th birthday and they were in the middle of preparing their summer comeback with Cherry Bomb.  
They got back from practice late that night, everyone was tired and no one really in the mood to celebrate but they got him a cake anyways, Jeno barging into the dorm followed by the other Dream members holding the hideous thing but the younger ones realised that everyone was exhausted and they left again earlier than planned.

Donghyuck was sitting on his bed and scrolling through his phone as the weight on the mattress shifted and when he looked up he was greeted by his roommate holding a box in his hands that was wrapped as a present neatly, no doubt Taeil’s work.   
“I know we promised not to give each other anything this year but I saw this at a shop the other day and I just couldn’t resist.”, Mark said and Donghyuck rolled his eyes but he was smiling because that was such a Mark thing, to go out and buy a present anyways.

“Don’t expect anything in return.”, Donghyuck answered as he took the present, a small box that looked like something from a jeweler but he doubted that Mark would gift him something like a ring or a bracelet. Mark smiled and waited eagerly for the younger to open the present so Donghyuck did just that. The small box contained a necklace, much to Donghyuck’s disbelief, silver trailing down to a pendant that portrayed the sun, laying on a dark red velvet pillow. The way it was displayed was almost too perfect to be ruined and reflected the cost of the present, expensive. 

As Donghyuck looked up again he noticed Mark watching him and expectantly waiting for a response with big eyes and Donghyuck’s heart skipped a beat like it did so often in Mark’s proximity but the feeling was overshadowed by a sharp pain under the left side of his collarbone that made him twitch for a second.

While Donghyuck was still wondering about the sudden pain Mark was starting to speak, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “I know it’s stupid but I thought of you when I saw it.”   
Donghyuck, ripped out of his thoughts, smiled and thanked him, leaning in for a hug after he placed the box on the unmade bed, arms around Mark’s shoulders, and the other’s on his waist. They parted after he few seconds but the smell of the older still lingered around Donghyuck and he was really thankful, even though he didn’t wear jewelry outside of stage clothes that often it was the thought that counted, the fact that Mark was reminded of him, the fact that he went out of his way to buy him a present despite Donghyuck’s constant teasing and annoying him whenever he had the chance.   
He was touched and it was making him feel things that he shouldn’t be feeling but he had known that for a long time already.

That night, after Donghyuck had taken a shower to wash away the traces the day had left on him, the sweat that clung to him, he put on the necklace, still in the bathroom and waiting for the fog on the mirror to fade, shirtless in just his sleeping pants, the air in the room to clammy and moist to put on a shirt yet, he noticed it. The moisture was clearing upon the reflecting surface and revealing a purple flower right under his collarbone about the size of a 500 won coin. Donghyuck was shocked and panicked, he didn’t know what to do, he didn’t understand and didn’t want to understand. He furiously tried to rub the blossom off his skin but it was impossible. It was as if someone tattooed it right under his skin, making it stay forever. 

Donghyuck cried while gripping the edge of the sink, he didn’t know for how long but until someone was knocking on the door and demanding to use the bathroom.

That night he decided that he wouldn’t tell anyone about the flower.

-

Donghyuck didn’t want a soulmate. The thought to be bound to a complete stranger, his future decided for him, was terrifying. He didn’t want someone to come into his life and demand his love, his future and everything he had worked so hard for over the past years.

Donghyuck didn’t want his soulmate he already had someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

-

The flower was a Hydrangea. He had spent hours trying to find it on the internet and looking up the meaning which was apparently ‘heartfelt emotions’. 

Many soulmates had flowers as their symbol but no matter how hard he looked, how deep he went, the Hydrangea never appeared before. He saw Heather and Iris, Roses and Tulips, but not the blossom that graced the space under his collarbone.

Donghyuck hid the mark with shirts and when necessary with makeup that he had found in his hyung’s drawers and no one had noticed so far. He made sure to act as if nothing had changed, as if his whole life didn’t get thrown around and his doubts about soulmates were erased. They existed he was living proof for that even if he didn’t want to.

They promoted with Cherry Bomb and got their first win as NCT 127, Taeyong cried and they celebrated when they were back at the dorm. Taeyong mentioned something stupid about how awesome it would be to share such a moment with your soulmate, the person you are destined with, and everyone groaned already used to the leader being overly romantic and obsessed with the idea of soulmates but Donghyuck wasn’t thinking and he agreed, verbally and now everyone was staring at him, Donghyuck, the one who was always doubting showed interested in soulmates and they teased him and asked if he had a crush, if he had a mark, why he changed his mind but Donghyuck wasn’t thinking about his soulmate, about the stranger with the same mark as his, he was thinking about Mark and how lucky he was to share such a moment with someone he held as dearly as he did the older.

-

Mark and Donghyuck stayed with the Dreamies when it happened.

It was a few weeks after Mark’s 18th birthday, and they weren’t stuffed to the brim with practices and fittings, just occasional recording sessions, Mark more often than everyone else, when the oldest of them entered the kitchen in the morning, holding his arm strangely and looking around with a shocked expression.  
Donghyuck was sitting at the table with Renjun next to him, both eating some cold ramen from last night as breakfast. Chenle and Jisung were playing video games in the living room, Jaemin probably sleeping and exploiting the fact that the managers still treated him lightly after his injury and Jeno was God knows where. 

“What’s wrong?”, Renjun asked when the dark haired entered and sat opposite of the smaller, still munching on his noodles.

“I have a mark”, Mark said after a pregnant pause and Donghyuck swears he has never seen Renjun move so fast, standing up at the speed of lightning and dropping his chopsticks into the bowl, chair falling over with a loud thud. Donghyuck’s eyes grew huge and his heart was going at LTE speed, it was about to jump out of his chest and run all the way to Canada just to scream at Mark’s parents for giving birth to their son because Donghyuck’s fragile, young soul was stressing way to much over the older.

“You what?!”, Renjun screeched and tried to rip Mark’s hand away from his arm, way to aggressive. The older stood up and moved outside of the hysterical teen’s reach.

“Calm down!”, Mark said firmly and Renjun stopped in his tracks, Donghyuck still hadn’t moved an inch, “I’ll show you, just calm down.”   
He removed his hands and Donghyuck couldn’t see the symbol on his skin, too far away but too shocked to move but Renjun was at Mark’s side and inspecting whatever it was that was his symbol with interest and suddenly Chenle and Jisung were there too and Mark was talking about how he just spotted it this morning while brushing his teeth, on his underarm, near his elbow.

Donghyuck was jealous. The chances were so small that you had a soulmate and of course the person he had like much more than in just a friendly way had one as well as himself but then again he hadn’t seen the mark on the older’s arm yet what if-

“Donghyuck?”, Mark called and the addressed defrosted on the spot and gave quick cheerful “Yeah” before jumping up to inspect the symbol himself but as soon as he caught sight of the purple flower he froze again as the picture was very familiar to him. Hydrangea. Heartfelt emotions. They were soulmates.

The others were talking and Mark mentioned that he would love to meet her soon and his already broken heart broke into even tinier pieces in Donghyuck chest. Of course. He has a soulmate and he has the luck of his soulmate being his crush and his best friend but his crush and his best friend is a stupid idiot who is most likely as straight as they come and would never consider that his soulmate might be someone else, someone who is not a girl, someone who is standing right infront of him.

“Cool”, Donghyuck says and sits back down at the table acting nonchalant about the whole situation as is his inside were crying and screaming but not a sound escaping his lips. Donghyuck doesn’t even want to imagine what Mark’s reaction would be if he found out.

-

Needless to say, Taeyong loved it. He loved Mark’s symbol and was always staring at it like a creep and he cried like a little baby when the younger showed it to him the first time. He milked the situation like crazy to talk about soulmates as much as possible and forced the whole group, all 18 of them, to watch another awful romantic comedy about soulmates Donghyuck was sure he had seen before. They were sitting on the sofa, well 6 of them were, the rest was scattered on the floor and Jeno and Renjun squeezed together on the single armchair in the room, Jeno taking up most of the space and skinny Renjun in his oversized t-shirt almost disappearing beside him.

It was awful, Taeyong was so happy and always whispering in Mark’s ear, squeezed between the younger and Johnny on the floor wearing a ridiculous ugly pair of pajamas and Mark was content and smiling, genuinely enjoying the movie and Donghyuck was overthinking and actively ignoring whatever was happening on screen until somewhere, in the background, in half of an dialogue, it was mentioned. A same-sex couple sharing a mark, the impossible and unthinkable, the taboo, was mentioned, not explicitly of course and not a single person in the room gave it a thought but Donghyuck caught it and the overwhelming need to tell was washing over him, to speak the truth and end this misery, to open the door to whole new world of hardships. 

He kept quiet but that night, when everyone was sleeping, the Dreamies staying in the 127 dorm, Mark and Donghyuck occupying their usual room, Jaemin, Renjun and Jeno sleeping on the floor in the space between the two beds on thin mattresses after a long session of talking, he promised himself to tell someone. He didn’t know who but he had to talk to someone about it otherwise he would burst soon. 

The first person that came to his mind was Jaemin. The younger was generally and open minded person but Jaemin was also the worst at keeping secrets so Jaemin wasn’t really and option.  
The next one was Taeyong, who was dependent and would surely know what to do as the leader of the group but he was also a hopeless romantic and awful at acting and annoying about this whole soulmate thing.

In the end Donghyuck decided that he should tell Johnny, who was always the parent in the group next to Taeyong and very dependable plus he came from America so probably more open minded than most Koreans. Also Johnny wouldn’t tell anyone if Donghyuck really didn’t want him to and he was good at comforting which was nice.

Donghyuck’s plan went as follows: He woke up at the buttcrack of dawn because that’s when Johnny, the mad man, usually got up, accidently stepping on Jeno while getting up, who was suffocating Jaemin with his whole body, he slipped through the door and heard the sound of water running in one of the bathrooms down the hall. Thin ass walls.  
He made his way to the door, stopped before gripping the handle, his heart running miles again, he was so nervous to reveal what was going on to someone, but in a moment of confidence he opened the door and suddenly stood inside, in front of Johnny who was leaning over the sink, now looking into the younger’s direction with a confused expression, toothbrush hanging from his mouth, his hair a mess and unnecessarily not wearing a shirt.

“What’s-”, Johnny started but Donghyuck interrupted before the other could finish or his new found confidence disappeared, “I have to tell you something.”

The younger’s sentence made Johnny spit out the remains of his toothpaste into the sink and, toothbrush thrown into the glass meant for it. All his attention was on Donghyuck. It was as if he could sense the situation perfectly. “Is everything okay?”, he asked, concerned.

Donghyuck took a deep breath before starting, “You know how Mark has his soulmate sign?” He was nervous and Johnny could tell but the older was still perplexed, “Uh, obviously. It’s all everyone talks about.”

“I have one too.”, Donghyuck said before Johnny could say anything else which made the other’s eyes grow large, “That’s great! Why are you so concerned? Where is it?” The younger’s face, still pale and displaying worry, concerned him still.

Donghyuck closed his eyes. “I’ve had it for a while now.”, he said, ignoring Johnny’s question and making him more confused, concerned, “It’s the same as Mark’s.” His confession was followed by silence, tears springing out the corners of his eyes, Johnny not daring to speak, taking the smaller by his shoulder and pulling him into a hug, trying to comfort.


	6. Johnjae (?) - Shameless AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what the label says except idk if it was supposed to be johnjae but i guess it was?? and i think side dowoo i dont remember
> 
> anyways this was a mistake goodbye

The first time Johnny Seo has ever heard about the Lee family he was fresh out of the academy, just starting his job at the ripe age of 23. Some officers from his department were talking to the night shift from the night before, gossiping about arrests that had happened during the early morning hours, one of them a teenager, about 15 years old which caught Johnny’s interest. It wasn’t uncommon for them to be arresting young teens that took out their hormones and frustrations by vandalizing or shoplifting from stores around the area, but the way they talked about the boy and his family, as if they were an unwanted wine stain on a new white blouse, degrading and with no ounce of respect.

Sicheng was his name. Chinese, not Korean, convicted of stealing from a supermarket, nothing important or overly pricey just everyday things such as canned soup and toilet paper. That alone made Johnny feel weary. It seemed like he didn’t steal because he wanted to get the newest electronics that he could boost around his friends, no he stole out of need, he had no other choice.

His colleagues kept talking, throwing names, sayings, rumors, things they have heard about a certain Lee family, criminals and fuck ups, all of them.

“Who is that?”, Johnny asked, his colleagues stopped talking, looking at him dumbfounded, the eldest stopped sipping on his morning coffee that was sat in a white mug with letters in a big font on it saying “#1 Dad”.

“You don’t know them?”, one of them said, laughing, “You don’t know the Lee’s?” The others toned in with him, laughing about Johnny, about his inexperience, who felt awful for even asking, for trying to be part of the banter, part of the team that they are supposed to be.

They stopped laughing as if on command, the eldest, the one with the mug opened his mouth again, slamming his coffee down on the desk he was leaning on way to harsh, releasing his thick fingers from the handle, “Don’t worry kid, you’ll meet them one day. They are pretty famous around here, every single one of them has been arrested at least once in their life, some more often than others. You’ll get to know them sooner or later.”

Johnny turned his back to them, going back to work. He wanted to scoff, wanted to be disrespectful for treating him like a child, the way they spoke down to him solely meant to be mocking, but instead he gave a quick nod, his humbleness always mistaken for shyness.

“Maybe you’ll even get to dick their mom down like half the city already did.”, one of them   
said in addition and Johnny just shook his head.

-

Two years later things were different. The old chief police officer from Johnny’s unit had died of cancer, and the new one, a woman, Irene, very strict and cold, changed a lot of things. Justice was important for her and she cherished a certain work moral which his colleagues didn’t seem to share at first but after several tries of sexual harrassing their new chief and her firing half the department they adapted to her standards.  
Unlike the old chief, Irene actually liked Johnny and trusted him more than any of the other officers. He got his own car and was allowed to go on patrols whenever he wanted to, promoted to the leader of a small team, which lead him to taking a break during his weekend night shift inside his car next to some night club.It was an incredible uneventful night. He was eating McDonalds, observing his surroundings, the drunk girl in the short dress walking out of the club, her whole weight supported by someone, seemingly her boyfriend, some homeless man begging for money, a young guy, about Johnny’s age standing in front of the club, smoking a cigarette and wearing a skimpy outfit. He had dark hair, and a big bruise on one of his cheeks which made Johnny act. After finishing his burger he exited the car and walked up to the guy who noticed the police officer walking up to him.

“Something wrong, officer?”, he asked, his voice laced with tiredness, his eyes were bloodshot. He kept smoking, his arms crossed and giving off a defensive aura.

“Just wanted to check if everything’s okay.”, the guy nodded and Johnny motioned to the bruise, “That looks pretty bad.”

The guy shrugged after taking another drag of his cigarette, “It’s nothing too bad, I’ve had worse. You should see the other guy, though.” His tone was dead serious but after he realised Johnny had no idea he was being sarcastic he started laughing, “I’m just joking.”

Johnny grinned at that, taking a deep breath of the warm summer night air mixed with smoke. The guy threw the butt of his cigarette on the ground. “And I was about to arrest you.”, he hesitated for a moment, “ But seriously, can I help you with that? Or anything else? It does look bad.”

“It’s nothing, really. I was just working when a fight broke out in the club but the security got it back under control pretty fast.”, the black haired guy said, his eyes shining, “but you could help me. They sent me home early to get that bruise treated but my ride usually comes when I’m off work in a few hours and to be honest I can’t afford a taxi.”

“You want me to bring you home?”, Johnny asked, avoiding asking personal questions about why he couldn’t just call his ride to come earlier or why he couldn’t afford a taxi. He was too kind, one of his few weaknesses as Irene always said but it was not of his matter even if he was a police officer.

The black haired guy nodded and for the first time Johnny noticed his eyes were lined with black, giving him some sort of cat-like appearance. “Sure thing.”, Johnny said.

“I thought you’d put up more of a fight.”, the guy said, smiling, “I’m Ten.”

“Johnny”

-

It turned out Ten lived in a part of the city were the criminal rate was pretty high and the rent was low, a paradise for criminals and compromise solution for poor people. The house fronts were dilapidated, curtains shut and stained, the front gardens lined with trash and useless objects.   
They talked during the whole ride about Ten’s job, he worked as a bartender all summer long to get enough money to survive the winter, his roommate, Taeil, with who he shared a small house that Taeil had inherited from his aunt when she died, his neighbours which were like a family to him, the ones that lived to houses down the road, and the guy that lived between them who Ten was sure that he was some kind of killer because of the different people coming and leaving all the time. They laughed and had fun, Ten was really nice and a good person to be around, Johnny hasn’t felt that happy and carefree in a long time.

When they arrived the house in which Ten’s neighbours lived, the ones he thought of as a family, was lit, the light shining on the street, and it was loud. Ten asked Johnny to stop in front of the house instead of his own after hearing screaming and shattering of glass.

“Shit”, Ten said, jumping out of the car and Johnny did the same, following the smaller male up the steps to the door, which was unlocked just to stand directly in the living room after entering where a bunch of teenagers were standing around, all of them dead tired in the early morning hours, their faces soulless, watching the scene in front of them unfold.

A guy, about the same age was Johnny and Ten was screaming at an older, clearly drunk man, a shattered plate laying on the dirty floor. They were arguing and none of the 8 children were trying to stop them, all watching with bored eyes as if this was normal.

“You stole our money! The money we worked hard for! How are we supposed to pay the bills now? Or the material for school? I can’t even give Jisung money to buy a birthday present for his friend!”, the guy screamed, “We have nothing left because you decided to drink all of our money away!”

The older man didn’t even try to defend himself, just mumbling excuses, too drunk to understand what was going on, he reeked of cheap alcohol and his hair was oily and messy, his clothes old and worn out. The younger guy was wearing pyjamas like everyone else, probably had been woken up by the man who seemed to be the father after he came home drunk

“Taeyong, calm down.”, Ten said, grabbing his friend’s shoulder, who relaxed immediately, calming down visibly.


End file.
